Whats In My Makeup Bag? -Plus Product Reviews and Dupes

So first things first! I apologize that the products are a bit messy and not in the prettiest of condition; but I wanted to show you all some of my all time favorites and most of these products I use on a daily basis (thus the messy look of overuse)! I am going to go through each product and give you my thoughts and what I use it for in the order that I would normally do my makeup! So lets get into it!

Equate strikingly unique moisturizing lotion

MOISTURIZER: So at first with this product I was very skeptical, because I LOVE Clinique’s dramatically different moisturizer so much! This lotion however is from Walmart and I’ve been using it for a good few months now. Honestly, I’ve been shocked by how similar these two products are. It’s a total dupe for the real thing! And the best part is, it was only $12 comparatively to the original’s price tag of $26! It’s a serious steal and I use this daily as my moisturizer before putting on my makeup. The nice thing about this moisturizer is that it is very light and you don’t have to sit with it too long before you apply your primer or foundation!

Nivea Men Sensitive after shave balm

PRIMER: Ok, so I know this may seem a little bit out of place to have in your beauty bag lol! But this stuff is actually a GREAT primer. Its lightweight, glides on and sets quickly and can help your makeup stay on all day long. It also has the perk of smelling like a beautiful man 😉 If you’re looking for an affordable primer that would work with any skin type, this is your stuff right here! Not to mention you get A LOT of product for the price. This thing is going to last me a LONG time. The only draw back that I would say that this product has is the opening. If you’re not careful this comes out of the bottle very quickly and more often than not I end up getting more product than I actually need or could use.

FOUNDATION: (ANGELS SINGING “AHHHH”) This foundation right here. There are no words for how awesome this stuff is! Seriously, this is an $80 foundation in a $10 bottle. You can’t beat the price and you can’t beat the product. It’s thin but has a great medium coverage that is easily build-able to be a full coverage foundation. It wears well and blends super easily. Whenever I am applying makeup to anyone other than myself this is the foundation I reach for because it just works so well with any skin type. There are also SO many different shades and options of warm, cool, or normal undertones. It’s a high end product for a low end price and I would recommend this to anyone and everyone! I love it! Once again though- the only drawback for this product is the packaging. I really wish it had a pump!

CONCEALER: These two products are GREAT. Garnier skin renew is definitely my go to for my every single day use. This stuff glides on like melted butter. Its easy to use, its feels nice and cool under the eyes due to the roller, it’s thin, doesn’t ever look cakey and I love to use it to highlight my face. I could rave about this product all day. In my stores it’s not actually located in the makeup aisles though, it’s usually in the moisturizing or facial wash/lotion areas!

Glamoflauge heavy duty concealer is my go to if I am doing a photo shoot. They’re not joking when they say this is heavy duty stuff. It’s a beyond full coverage concealer that will even cover up tattoos if applied properly and I’ve found it to also be a WAY cheaper dupe of the Kat Von D lock it tattoo concealer (which is usually around $24) . I don’t use this on a daily basis because it is a very full coverage concealer, but on days when I’ve woken up with huge bags under my eyes or a giant zit- this is my go to. IT WILL COVER ANYTHING.

SETTING POWDER: This powder is great and I’ve been using this powder for years now. I recently went to Wal-mart though and saw that they no longer carry NYC products in my store. So I may just have to order online from now on but I wont mind because you cant beat the prices of these products. I believe this powder is around $3 or $4 dollars. I love to use a loose powder to press under my eyes directly after I’ve applied my concealer and this powder is always my go to!

BRONZER/CONTOUR: This is my all time favorite bronzer. I use this daily and have loved it for years. I also use this to contour my face as well. It has no shine or sparkle which I feel like is rare for bronzers and it just adds the perfect amount of glowing color. I also like to use this as an eye shadow too! It’s totally versatile and if I don’t have any eye shadow with me this is a great color for any eye color/skin tone out there. I fear the day that they might discontinue this product!

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Elf -Shimmer whip

HIGHLIGHTER: These little guys are my happy. As you can see in the picture my poor little white facial whip has been overused and abused lol! In my opinion these highlighters are better than my benefit high beam highlighter. I 99% of the time will reach for these first. The one in white (spotlight) is my favorite- it gives off an amazing sheen that still looks like it could be completely natural. Plus- They’re only $1.

EYESHADOW: Gifted to me my my AMAZING niece this Christmas- this eye shadow palette is so great! The colors are all super beautiful, pigmented, and it smells like freaking chocolate. You just can’t beat that although I will admit that I did feel a little weird smelling my eye shadow haha! I’ve been using these quite a bit as of late and I’m loving them and the packaging is so cute and feels super durable and sturdy- which is good for me 😉 This palette is a bit on the more expensive side though at $49.

EYESHADOW: So since I gave you a more expensive palette, I also wanted to give you a cheaper palette as well. If you have a Dollar Tree near you- pick up one of these palettes. They come in a variety of colors but the neutrals are definitely my favorites. These eye shadows are awesome. They’re pigmented, soft, and blend super well. The first time trying these I was shocked by how awesome they are and I can promise you, nobody would ever know that your eye shadow looks were made with $1 eye shadows! The only downside is that you can’t seem to purchase these anywhere online unless it’s in bulk. So if you don’t have a dollar tree near you, find a friend who does and have them send you a few of these!

EYEBROWS: Ah, the brows. I use quite a few different products on my brows and switch it up fairly often. Some of them are not in this picture. But I wanted to show you guys some more expensive and also cheaper dupes for those products. The first products I will talk about are the pomades. There is the Anastasia dip brow and the salon perfect pomade. In my opinion after trying both for a long period of time- I actually like the salon perfect pomade so much more than the dip brow. My dip brow was great at first, but within about two weeks it dried up into a hard lump of gunk. I also did everything I was supposed to as far as storing it upside down, I even tried to revive it first with eye drops and then with baby oil. It was no luck though. It could be in part that I live in such a dry climate, but either way I would definitely say that it wasn’t worth the $18 I paid. As far as the Salon Perfect brand goes though, this stuff is awesome. So far it hasn’t dried out for me and it stays on all day without any troubles! I’m loving it. The big drawback with this product though is that the color options are very limited.

Pencils! I love using pencils! Above I have the Anastasia Beverly hills brow and also Kitty Girl Eyebrow Pencil. Both are amazing pencils in my opinion but Kitty girl has been my all time favorite as of late especially since it was under a dollar! I do however wish it had a spoolie but I much prefer the twist up liner to the wood pencil. Sharpening is a pain and I always feel like it wastes so much product! I would absolutely recommend both of these pencils to you though! Both are great but if you’re looking for an inexpensive dupe to the Anastasia brand , order a Kitty Girl!

MASCARA: This mascara works amazingly for my eyes and eyelashes. I hate the chunky or spidery leg looking lashes and this gives me great volume, length and never looks chunky or stringy for me! I also notice that so many mascaras will start flaking or it’s almost like they’re crumbling off of my eye lashes about halfway through the day. This one doesn’t do that and I’ve noticed that Rimmel’s mascaras in general have all been really high quality and some of my very favorites over time!

LIPS: So for lips- there are so many products but in all honesty I’m not a huge lip stick wearer. Maybe I just haven’t found the perfect one yet but usually I will just go with a great balm or a tinted gloss. These two are a couple of my current favs. Nivea Soothing lip care has been a life saver for my dry winter lips. It smells just like honey and glides on smooth and soft leaving my lips feeling super hydrated.

C.O. Bigelow glosses are some of my favorite glosses, the one in peppermint is probably my all time favorite because it tingles my lips and tastes like peppermint ice cream 🙂 The one above is in cinnamint and I love this one as well. It has a slight pink tint to it that gives a healthy amount of color to your lips.

I hope you all enjoyed what’s in my makeup bag! Let me know if you have any questions or suggestion for post’s you’d like to see! Also let me know if you’ve used any of these products and share whats currently in your makeup bag! I’d love to hear about some of your favorite products! Until next time XOXO